buster.

If this is true, it'd be a bargain.

I saw a game in which we should have won and would have done with some ease had we been better middle to front. I saw Morelos fall for the provocation routine and get sent off for something I doubt we'll appeal because we won't get anywhere with it. Behind closed doors, I'd be more angry with Morelos than the officials. We got the penalty and yes, there was a case for a red card. The guy who threw the ball at Katic could have seen red if 'letter of law' was being applied. Would have been soft but given the Morelos sending off, another case for a red card. I'd have to see the Stevie May challenge on Jack again but at the time it looked clumsy and a yellow card. Jack's injury seems to have come from a whiplash effect, possibly the brain getting jolted within the skull. --------------------- Bottomline - Frustration from a late equaliser but a lot to be happy about. - As SG said after first game, middle to front needs sorted and until we do we won't get the results our play deserves. - Some poor referee decisions that didn't help us but the bigger issue is sorting middle to front. Do that and we take officials out of the equation.

I think it's very encouraging that the 'rookie manager' and his staff showed that they could deal with adversity so quickly and effectively. I have to say, in a way that was much more effective than I've seen a lot of experienced managers do it.

The main thing I take from today is optimism for the future. SG&Co look to me as if they know what they are doing, they know what they want, can communicate to players and get them 'to play'.

IMO we are overdoing the officials angle today. Sometimes games happen that justify it, eg. first Hibs game at Ibrox last season with Stokes/Beaton playing a starring role. But I don't think today does.

Watching it in realtime Arfield did enough wrt keeping his head in place / not giving way to make it easy for the ref to book them both. Had Arfield been 'cute', he may have been able to have got more out of it given that the sheep player is the main aggressor (instigator).

Both the Aberdeen player and Arfield confronted one another. The referee was either going to tell both to wind it in and/or book them both. Nothing to complain about regards that card.

Slovenian League Aluminij 2 - 5 Maribor FT After 61 minutes Maribor scored a third (0-3) and the opposition went down to 10 men.........but the 10 men went on to score the first two competitive goals that Maribor have conceded this season. Obviously don't like playing against 10 men. I have a cunning plan.....

This kind of confirms it for me.....because if you think about it, you can probably rely more on Lafferty these days than Morelos. If we were to bring someone decent in to replace Morelos, we'd need to generate funds to do so (ie. sell Morelos). Whatever, SG needs to solve the middle to front conundrum, sharpish.

The prospective Lafferty deal isn't to replace Morelos.

Morelos out Two in (Lafferty + first team pick) Obviously depends on getting a club who'll pay a reasonable price and sourcing a decent replacement for 'Morelos cash'. Might be too late, who knows !

Suspected that we'd go down to 10 today in the first half. I pointed out before the game that bet365 saw our game as high risk for a red card (very short price offer) and so it proved. I was going to have a bet on it but the price was so short, not to be of value (11/5). Thing is I thought it would be us to go down to 10 because we have players they can more easily wind-up and it's via this that red cards tend to get shown in this game opposed to bad tackles that seem to be allowed. We can't depend on Morelos and for me that has tipped the balance. We have nearly a month to go in the transfer window, sell him and get somebody else in.

Maribor have just conceded their first competitive goal this season (7th match). 1-3 up away from home in a Slovenian league match.

- I'd have taken a draw if offered after Morelos was sent off. The lateness of equaliser is what makes it feel worse. - We need to sort out middle to front or we will draw too many games we should be winning. - If linesman witnessed the provocation and retaliation then we should have had a free-kick at edge of their box. - Morelos has to be told in no uncertain terms about his discipline and I tend to think, if possible we could do with shipping him out and getting someone else in. For every positive with Alfie, there is a negative coming down the road. They knew he was one of two they'd look to wind-up (along with Ryan Jack). Regardless of soft decision, it was Morelos who cost us. - If Jack is out of European game, it's a fairly important blow

Solid performance against adversity. Shouldn't have had both Ejaria and Windass on the park for the last 10 minutes. Goal against became much more probable when Jack went off for the Liverpool youngster.

Bet Details Date/Time Stake Return James Tavernier @ 11/1 €2.00 Single 05/08/2018 13:51:30 2.00 0.00 becomes......... James Tavernier @ 11/1 €2.00 Single 05/08/2018 13:51:30 2.00 24.00

Suggests that no deal is imminent or clubs hovering that closely. He has a chance to stake a first team claim, it's up to him. Let's hope we see his good side, he's capable of occasion.

Solid back to middle We don't know our best combination middle to front yet.

Yes, I'd agree. Would love to see Barsic at Rangers but we have other priorities. One to keep an eye on. #FinancialReality

Yesterdays 4 top flight games saw a unifom 4 yellow cards in each match. I'd guess our game today will see more. Bet365 aren't generous with their price for a Red card to be shown, 11/5. Contrast that with the price they offer for a red in the Leeds v Stoke match, 4/1.

I think they'll want considerably more than 2M unless in the last year of contract. He's the type of player that could hack the phsyicality of the EPL and have enough talent to do a decent job. IF we could somehow do a deal, he's the type who we'd almost certainly make a profit on in re-sale. Unfortunately, doubtful due to budget constraints.

Express have been reading this thread...........

Thing about todays game is if we can get it together in the final third and take chances. So far, we've been solid without much punch up front. (Aberdeen have been similar) Whatever happens in todays game won't mean we are champions elect or our season has ended but it's the game on Thursday that we really could do with having our attack firing given how much money the EL group stages would bring in.....and the thing about Maribor is that they appear to be very difficult to score goals against. It'll be interesting to see how much SG varies the starting XI for today, I'd like to see Arfield start in place of Ejaria. I think his drive would be a big plus for this type of game. It would also tell us more about what he is capable of offering us. Ryan Jack needs to stay calm because they'll be targetting him and wanting him to do something silly.

Yes, but most teams in pot 4 will be thinking similar, including Maribor. I really didn' think we had much of a chance of making the group stages but we managed to find a way to get past Osijek and thus far, the draw couldn't have been much kinder. Onwards we go.............